Someone To Save You
by thingyoulovemost
Summary: a Puck/Quinn story, based on season 3. Quinn Fabray is lost, broken. & she needs someone to save her. will Puck be the one to do it? will they be able to mend their relationship, and begin a relationship with their daughter, Beth?


**Author's Note: so I got the idea for this after watching The Purple Piano Project, and then I heard the song "Someone to Save You" by OneRepublic and just couldn't get this idea out of my head. This chapter goes along with The Purple Piano Project & I Am Unicorn. I didn't change anything that happened, it's more of getting inside Puck and Quinn's heads while everything's going on, and filling in the blanks of stuff that could've happened we didn't get to see. I hope you guys like it :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or Glee.**

Noah Puckerman is a lot of things, but dumb isn't one of them. So when he closes his locker to see Quinn Fabray strutting down the hallway in a ridiculous black leather get-up, complete with hot pink hair and a nose ring, he knows something is seriously off. This isn't the Quinn he knows. Well, used to know. When they gave their daughter Beth up for adoption last year, they had a fallout. Quinn didn't seem to want anything to do with him anymore, and he knew why- Beth. He _knows_ Quinn, knows her better than anybody else, and he knows that she doesn't want anyone to know how she really feels. He also knows that when something becomes too much for her to handle, she shuts herself down and pretends like it never happened. That's what she did with Beth, what she did with him. And it hurt, it hurt like nothing else. But Quinn, she needs him. And he needs her. They're good for each other- they make each other _better_. So he knows that this is up to him, now. Quinn Fabray is broken, and if anybody is going to fix her, it's going to be him.

When he hears that Shelby is back, that's when it hits him. That's how he's going to help Quinn. He has to get her to talk to Shelby. But how? There's no way she'll willingly go with him to talk with her. Maybe he'll just leave the Shelby part out of it when he asks her. So after football practice is over, he runs over to the bleachers where he knows she'll be. That's where she hangs out now, smoking with her new "friends", The Skanks. He spots her leaning up against a pole, taking a long drag of her cigarette. "Hey Q!" he shouts. She looks up, and when she sees that it's him, her honey-toned hazel eyes widen in shock, and then narrow into slits. "What do you want, Puckerman?" she says, her voice significantly lower than usual. Must be part of this act she's putting on now, he guesses. "I need to talk to you. I want to ask you something." he says. She looks at him hesitantly. "Oh come on, Q," he pleads. "Fine." she says curtly, as she makes her way over to where he's standing. "What happened to you, Quinn?" he says. "I mean, look at you! This isn't you. What are you trying to prove, here?" "I'm not trying to prove anything," she says hotly. "This is who I am. This is the real me." "That's a bunch of BS, and you know it." Puck retorts. Quinn rolls her eyes, but she doesn't deny it. "Whatever," says Puck. "Listen. I need you to come somewhere with me." Quinn's eyes narrow in suspicion. "Come with you where?" she asks. "Just... you know, a place...oh, just come with me, will ya?" Quinn just looks at him, then says after a moment, "Fine. Whatever."

What Quinn doesn't know is that Puck had gone to Shelby earlier and explained why he needed her help, and Shelby had told him that she wanted to speak to them both anyways, about how she wanted them involved in Beth's life. So Puck had agreed to find a way to get Quinn to hear Shelby out. Now, he and Quinn are walking down the hallway towards the classroom that Shelby's in. When they reach their destination, Puck motions for Quinn to go ahead of him into the classroom. He knows the exact moment she spots Shelby, as he watches her freeze and tense up from behind. Shelby gets up from the piano and walks over to where Quinn and Puck are standing in the doorway, and Quinn recovers. Puck can almost see her put the act back on, like a mask.

* * *

><p>Quinn Fabray is lost. Not physically, but... in all the ways that count. She's numb. She's broken. And honestly? She can't even tell you where it all went wrong. Maybe it was when she changed her appearance so drastically (...the first time). Or maybe it was when she got pregnant, and her parents kicked her out. Although if she's being honest, her family had fallen apart long before then. Was it when she lied to Finn? Maybe when she gave up her daughter, or became a cheater...again. She doesn't know. If she's being honest, completely honest with herself, she's lost. And she's not sure how to find her way back.<p>

She keeps telling everyone that this is who she is now. This is the _real_ Quinn. But she knows that's just a lie. She doesn't know _who _she is anymore. She can feel herself falling into this hole, this emptiness, and she needs someone to pull her out of it. She needs someone to _save _her. But who? She laughs darkly to herself, because is there really anyone in her life who cares enough to do so? Her mother sure doesn't. Her father doesn't even speak to her anymore. All she wants is someone to love her, and not just say that they love her and then drop her, like she's nothing. She wants to _feel _something again. Even if it hurts, it's better than feeling nothing, right? That's why she's started smoking, stealing. She's such a mess, and she doesn't even care. What does she have to lose? She's already lost everything that's important to her.

That's why she agrees to participate in Ms. Sylvester's ridiculous documentary. As she talks to Quinn, Quinn finally realizes where it all went wrong. Glee club. She's filled with anger, and she needs someone to blame. Ms. Sylvester gives her a scapegoat- Mr. Schue and the glee club. Sue tells her to meet her in front of Mr. Schuester's office later in the day, and she can't wait to confront Mr. Schue about her epiphany.

When Quinn hears the news that Shelby is back, she can practically feel her heart twisting painfully in her chest. If Shelby's back, that means- no, she shakes her head sharply. That's too hard to think about. Although, she thinks about that precious face every day. Wonders what she's doing, what she looks like right now. Does she still look just like her? What's her personality like? She wishes she knew. But deep down, she knows she gave up her right to know all these things when she gave Beth away. So when Puck confronts her behind the bleachers, she agrees reluctantly. Honestly, she's not sure what to think. As they're walking down the hall, Quinn's stomach is doing somersaults. She doesn't know why she's so nervous, but she can't help herself. She starts talking to Puck about how she has better things to do, like go smoke on the roof with The Skanks. Yeah, right. She doesn't have anything better to do. Lying just comes so naturally to her now, she can't even remember the last time she's told the truth. She doesn't like letting anyone that close to her to see past her BS. They come to the door, and Puck motions for her to go first. As she enters, she sees Shelby across the room and freezes. No, no no no no. She can't do this. She can't. She looks at Puck for guidance, and his eyes tell her that she needs to do this. So she takes a deep breath, stands up a little straighter, and puts back on the act she's been pulling off so well until now. Shelby greets her warmly, and starts talking about how when she was in New York, she couldn't stop thinking about Beth, and all the things she was missing. Her milestones, first steps, first words. Quinn can't take it. "I get it," she says curtly. She just wishes Shelby would stop. Shelby continues to talk about how she missed so many firsts in Rachel's life, and how she's not about to make the same mistake with Beth. "Neat story," Quinn interjects. "But I'm late for a meeting on the roof," she mumbles hotly, as she turns around quickly and tries to make a run for it. Puck stops her gently. "Wait, just listen to her," he pleads. So she turns around, her heart continuing to shatter as she does so. Shelby continues on, saying how since the day she gave up Rachel, she's been searching for her face everywhere she goes. Quinn blinks back tears, seeing as how she has been doing the same thing with Beth. "I want you to be a part of Beth's life," Shelby says. And Quinn wants to. She wants to _so _badly. "When can I see her?" she says monotonously. Shelby studies her for a moment. "Are you okay?" she asks with concern laced in her voice. "I mean, are you even in glee anymore?" No. She's not. She's not okay, and she's not in glee club anymore. It hurts too much. _This _hurts too much. She notices that Shelby avoided her question. "Did you come here just to torment me with the idea of seeing my child?" she asks, her voice almost breaking. Shelby looks back at her, hurt by the accusation. "I want you to be a part of Beth's life. But not like this." Shelby says to her. She tells her to clean up her act. So that's how it's going to be? Fine. "You think you can tell me what to do?" Quinn says hotly. "Just because you signed a couple of papers? You're not her mom. _I'm _her mom. _Me."_ Puck interjects, "Quinn-" but she holds up her hand to stop him. "So, you can pretend all you want," she yells. "But that is something you are _never_ going to be." Quinn turns on her heels and walks out of the room, until she's out of their sight, then she breaks into a run. She doesn't stop running until she gets home, into her room, where she finally allows herself to break down. At least nobody can see her here, right? She tries not to think about Shelby's words. Or the fact that she gave up the right to call herself Beth's mom a long time ago. Instead, she just lays on her bed and cries until she runs out of tears.

She remembers she has to meet up with Coach Sylvester, so she collects herself and meets her in front of Mr. Schue's office, where Coach tells her to do it like they practiced. Quinn scoffs. She doesn't need any help with what she's about to say. She storms into the office and says, "Mr. Schuester, I came here to give you a piece of my mind." Mr. Schue looks up, confused, and says, "What's going on here?" So she lays it on him. "I used to have everything," she says matter-of-factly. "Dated the quarterback of the football team, was captain of the Cheerios. I was the prettiest, most popular girl in school, and then I joined glee club and it all went to hell. I just want you to know, I am _never_ coming back to glee club. I hope you're happy." she says with anger laced in every word. She turns around to storm out of his office Rachel Berry style, but he stops her. "Ms. Fabray, wait," he calls out angrily, and she turns back around, ready to shoot down whatever he has to say. "You know, there's only one person in this world you care about, and that's yourself." Quinn feels the anger rising up from deep within her until it reaches the surface, "You have no-" she begins to yell, but he interrupts her. "I'm not finished!" he yells as he slams his hand onto his desk. Quinn shrinks back. She's never seen him this mad before. "You're not a little girl anymore, Quinn," he says. "How long do you plan on playing the victim card?" She's frozen in place, his words affecting her more than she'd ever let on. "You know, since day one you have done nothing but sabotage the same glee club that has been there for you over and over again. When you got pregnant, when your parents kicked you out," he lists. "Mercedes even let you stay at her _house. _And I don't recall ever hearing so much as a _thank you._" That accusation hits Quinn hard. She knows it was wrong of her to discard Mercedes like she did, but she reminded her of everything that she'd gone through with Beth, and Puck. She couldn't handle it. Mr. Schue continues, "So now you're a trainwreck, well congrats." She swallows thickly. "But you strut into my office and tell me that it's _my _fault? Well then, I have something to say to you. _Grow up._" he tells her. And that cuts her the deepest. With a bruised ego and an already broken heart, she runs from the room and falls to the ground, sobbing. The truth of his words, of Shelby's words, hit her in that moment, and she breaks down for the second time that day.

* * *

><p>Puck could barely contain himself- Shelby's actually letting them be involved in Beth's life. He wants to see her again so badly, he'll do anything. He knows he has to prove that he's worthy to Shelby, so he pulls out all the stops. He gets drug tested, he stops drinking (well, sort of..), he even does a little bit of homework. He figures that will convince her to let him see Beth. So he calls up friend whose brother works with the Lima Police Department, and asks him to find out where Shelby lives. When he gets the address, he gathers up everything he needs to prove himself. He even draws a picture to give to Beth, even though he thinks it kind of looks like crap. Oh well, Beth's one, she probably won't care that much, right?<p>

When he arrives, he rings the doorbell and stands there nervously, palms sweating profusely. When no one answers right away, he rings it a few more times impatiently. Shelby opens the door and looks surprised to see him, not that he blames her. "I hope it's okay I just stopped by," he says nervously. She lets him in and begins to lecture him on how he shouldn't have barged in like this, but he's not really listening. He's looking around the room for Beth, but he doesn't see her, so he turns his attention back to Shelby. She's still talking about how being in Beth's life is going to be a long-term commitment, so he shows her the drug test and tells her what he's been doing. As they're talking, he hears Beth start to cry loudly, and he spins around to see where she's at. While Shelby picks her up to comfort her, all he can do is stare at her like she's the only person in his world. He watches her, transfixed, as she looks back at him. "Oh my God, she looks like Quinn," he says shakily. "And you," says Shelby reassuringly. "She has that same dopey smile," she jokes, and her words warm Puck's heart as he stares at his daughter. She really is the spitting image of Quinn. He notices she has his ears, though. He doesn't even care that she doesn't want him to hold her yet, he figured she'd need to warm up to him first. So he shows Shelby the picture he drew for her, and they share a laugh. "I'll do anything," he says. "Anything to prove to you I can be in her life. Please just give me that chance," he pleads. Shelby considers for a moment, and Beth looks up at him with her innocent little face that's almost a mirror image to Quinn's. "Alright," says Shelby. Puck grins widely, "Really?" he says. "Yeah," says Shelby with a smile.

He stays around for another hour, because he can't bring himself to leave. Beth finally gets used to his presence enough to let her hold him, and Shelby captures the moment by snapping a picture with her phone. After a while, Beth falls asleep in his arms, and he thinks this is the happiest he's been in a really, really long time.

* * *

><p>She's fixing her makeup in the bathroom when she hears someone enter. "Menthol 100's? Really, Skank?" She'd know that voice anywhere- Puck. Then she rolls her eyes and says, "What are you doing in here? It's the girl's bathroom." "I'm always in here, the stalls are cleaner." he replies as she lets out a snort. He continues on about how this isn't the real her, and makes some snarky comment about how she looks like a real housewife from Reno. Whatever. Then he hits her with the hard stuff. "Saw Beth." She tenses up. "So?" she says tersely. "She's perfect." he says almost reverently. "She looks just like you." Quinn's heart breaks a little more. "Well, the old you." he amends. Quinn puts her wall back up. "Yeah, well, it doesn't matter. We're not 'parent material'" she says. "We can be." he says surely. "We're never gonna be together," she says haughtily. "I don't care about you," he states. Ouch. That hurts. Her sarcastic smile falters. "I care about her. I don't want her having questions, or being messed up. She needs you in her life." he tells her. She doesn't want her daughter having questions or being messed up either, but it just hurts too much to think about seeing her again, no matter how badly she wants to. But maybe she can do it. For Beth.<p>

She decides to talk to Shelby again. So she waits outside the classroom, where she can hear that awful Sugar Motta screeching during what must be a lesson with Shelby. Finally (thank goodness) the terrible screeching stops, and Sugar leaves the room with her nose turned up as she glares at Quinn. Quinn rolls her eyes and walks in, where she sees Shelby getting up from the piano. "She's hopeless, you know," she offers with a tentative smile. "Nobody's hopeless," Shelby replies, smiling when she sees Quinn standing in the doorway. Quinn takes in her words, and finally believes there might be a truth in them. Maybe. "What happened to you, Quinn?" Shelby asks her. She doesn't know how to respond, because frankly, she doesn't really know the answer. "Nevermind, I know what happened to you," Shelby continues. "Same thing happened to me when I gave up Rachel." she goes on to say that she herself got a tattoo and a ridiculous haircut, like Quinn did. It makes Quinn feel just a little bit better, as she laughs softly along with Shelby. Shelby continues, "But eventually I realized, no matter how much it hurt me, I did right by my daughter. That's the real measure of motherhood," she pauses for a moment. "How much of yourself will you give up for them?" Quinn becomes angry, "Well I'm not going back to being that girl. Little miss blonde, perfect-" Shelby stops her, laughing. "Quinn, were you ever really that girl? I mean, would that kind of girl even get pregnant in the first place? Do you seriously expect me to think that this is the real you?" Quinn tenses up again. "Yeah," she says. "Yeah, sure. Something like that," she falters. Shelby goes on to say that this is the time she should be finding herself. She wants to find herself. "First step to becoming an adult?" says Shelby. "Stop punishing yourself for things you did when you were a child." Quinn swallows back the knot in her throat. Easier said than done. "Can I see her?" she begs. "I know Puck got to," she says more softly. "Not yet," says Shelby gently. Alright, fair enough. "How about a photo? _Please," _she pleads. Shelby nods and pulls out her iPhone, where she brings up a picture of Beth sitting on Puck's lap. It takes everything Quinn has in her not to break down then and there. She's so beautiful, she is perfect, just like Puck said. She really does look like her. "You wanna know who you really are?" says Shelby. "Look at that sweet, special little face," Quinn chokes back tears. "She looks just like you," Shelby says. "You can be apart of this family too, Quinn. I really want you to be." Quinn doesn't know about the family part, but she does know that she has to see her daughter again. She has to get her back. "It's all up to you," Shelby tells her. She knows.

She runs to the store on her way home and picks up a box of blonde hair dye. She takes out her nose ring, changes her clothes, throws away her cigarettes. She dyes her hair back to blonde, and takes in her appearance. Perfect. Step one, complete. Step two, re-join glee club. She goes to the auditorium where she knows they've been having "Booty Camp". She watches as they notice her presence with shocked faces. "I heard this was for people who need a little help with their dance moves," she says. She hopes they buy it. "Would it be cool if I joined in?" Mr. Schue accepts, and they welcome her back with hugs and high-fives. "Get in here, girl. You've been missed," Mercedes tells her as she embraces her tightly. Quinn really did miss her. She gets in line next to Puck. "I'm proud of you," he tells her. And he is. She looks at him, feeling those stupid butterflies all over again. She shakes it off, remembering why she's even back here. "I have to get her back," she tells him. "If that means dyeing my hair blonde and pretending I think I'm special, it's something I'm willing to do. We're gonna get full custody."

* * *

><p>Is she crazy? She can't be serious. Full custody? They can't do that to Shelby. Yeah, he wants to be in Beth's life, but they can't do that to her. She needs Shelby just as much as she needs them. He's got to find a way to get Quinn to realize this, but how?<p> 


End file.
